178 THE GREAT THICK-SKINNED ANIMALS 



There is really no need for horses to be shod at all. They would 

 work far better without shoes of any kind, and all who have made the 

 experiment have found that such is really the case, and that their 

 horses are improved in every w'ay by having their hoofs allowed to 

 grow as nature intended them. What the shoer does is to cut away 

 the frog of the foot which ought to rest upon the ground, and so to 

 throw all the weight upon the outer part of the hoof. Then a rigid 

 piece of iron is nailed to the outer rim, so that all the beautiful elastic 

 thin layers are prevented from working, while the hoof itself is split 

 and damaged by the nails, and the animal is obliged to lift a needless 

 weight at every step. 



This last may seem a small matter, and so it w^ould be if the 

 horse were only to travel for a short distance; but, when he has to 

 cover many miles of ground with a rider upon his back, or to drag a 

 heavy load behind him, the weight of the shoes adds very much to the 

 work of the animal. Why, supposing that each foot is put to the 

 ground only once in every six yards, and that each shoe weighs but 

 four ounces, the horse has even then to lift rather more than two 

 hundred and ninety-three pounds of extra weight for every mile he 

 travels ; so that, in a twelve-mile journey, he would thus have altogether 

 to raise more than a ton and a half, owing to the weight of his shoes 

 alone ! 



Nature would never be so careless as to form the foot of one of 

 her servants in such a manner that it would be in danger of wearing 

 out if it were not protected by an iron covering. She never allows 

 any part of the frame of any of her servants to wear out from use, but 

 forms all the tools which she makes in such a manner that the^^ are 

 always fit for service, and ready to perform the full amount of work 

 which is required of them. And this rule she has not broken in the 

 hoof of the horse, which is one of the many wonderful instances of 

 the perfection which is to be found in every tool formed by the hand 

 of nature. 



In breaking the shock of the footfall, the hoof is verv greatly 

 assisted by the manner in which the bones of the leg are set upon 

 one another. 



In order to explain this to you, however, I must ask you how 



